The Santa Clara County Public Health Department released updated coronavirus data Friday that shows more than 70 people have now died from COVID-19 in the county.

According to the Public Health Department, four more people who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus have died, bringing the countywide death toll to 73. Twenty-three people have died from COVID-19 in Santa Clara County in the last week, marking an increase of 46 percent over a seven-day span.

For the second consecutive day, Santa Clara County reported a relatively low number of new cases as the Public Health Department said 37 more positive tests had been recorded. The number of confirmed cases in the county has reached 1,870, which represents a 26 percent increase from the confirmed cases the county had announced at this time last Friday.

At least 42 people had tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Santa Clara County on 14 of the first 15 days this month. On Thursday, the Public Health Department announced 40 new cases.

With a population over 1 million, it isn’t surprising the city of San Jose accounts for the vast majority of the confirmed cases in Santa Clara County. According to Public Health Department data, however, the number of cases per 100,000 residents in San Jose is much higher –and in some instances twice as high– as the numbers from neighboring cities in the county.

According to city data last updated by the Public Health Department on Thursday, San Jose accounts for more than 1,200 of the county’s coronavirus cases and has produced 116.7 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents.

The countywide rate of cases per 100,000 residents is 97.0.

Sunnyvale, which is the county’s second most populous city, has a total of 99 cases and 64.6 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents. Palo Alto, which has 66 confirmed cases, has the second-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents of any city in the county with a rate of 94.5.

The cities of Santa Clara, Milpitas, Gilroy, Mountain View, Morgan Hill and Campbell, all have between 25 and 85 confirmed coronavirus cases and rates per 100,000 residents between 59.6 (Gilroy) and 73.4 (Milpitas).

Santa Clara County also has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths of any Bay Area county, but that’s to be expected because the county has the largest population.

The number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in Santa Clara County, which is now 97.0, is actually lower than the number of cases per 100,000 residents in San Francisco County, 114.2, and in San Mateo County, 98.59.

The number of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 residents in Santa Clara County, which is now 3.78, is higher than the four other most populous Bay Area counties, which include Alameda County (2.31), Contra Costa County (1.38), San Francisco County (1.91) and San Mateo County (3.6).

All population figures used to calculate rates per 100,000 residents come from U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department did not provide updated totals for the number of coronavirus patients hospitalized and in ICU units on Friday, but the county did say 17,774 people have now been tested for COVID-19, an increase of approximately 700 tests from Thursday.

Kerry Crowley is a multimedia beat reporter covering the San Francisco Giants. He spent his early days throwing curveballs in San Francisco’s youth leagues before studying journalism at Arizona State University. Kerry has covered every level of baseball, from local preps to the Cape Cod League, and is now on a quest to determine which Major League city serves the best cheeseburger.

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